"On July 24, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed a Massachusetts district court in a widely-watched case addressing whether private equity partnerships are 'trades or businesses' for purposes of liability under Title IV of ERISA. The First Circuit held in Sun Capital Partners III, L.P. v. New England Teamsters & Trucking Ind. Pension Fund that where the management company affiliated with the two investing private equity funds engaged in active management of the contributing employer, an investing fund was more than a mere passive investor, and therefore was engaged in a trade or business. This case is significant for private equity investors holding interests in companies with unfunded pension liabilities, since the holding applies equally to single employer plan terminations as well as multiemployer plan obligations."  MORE >>